[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 45 (Friday, April 2, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2134-H2135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  OUR GROWING ECONOMY IS CREATING JOBS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Burgess). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, as we have all seen by now, the Department 
of Labor released its payroll survey dated today showing that in the 
month of March the economy created 308,000 new jobs. Mr. Speaker, 
308,000 new jobs created in the month of March. It also revised its new 
jobs data for January and February with sharp increases in both months.
  Now, these strong numbers, Mr. Speaker, clearly demonstrate the 
vitality of our 21st-century economy. They are a reflection of what 
other indicators like the strength of the stock market, the level of 
homeownership, and the growth in gross domestic product have shown. 
They have been telling us for months that we have a growing economy 
that is creating jobs.
  But the real significance of the job creation numbers is what it 
tells us about the best way to ensure job growth in this country. We 
would all like a job creation number like 308,000 every single month. 
It is a strong number that Americans would like to see more of; and 
everyone here would, of course, like to see that continue. The question 
is, How can we ensure that those kinds of job numbers continue?
  There are always lots of ideas and proposals being touted as the best 
way to grow the number of American jobs, but they all boil down to 
essentially two fundamental approaches.
  The first is to try, try very hard to keep any existing job that we 
have from being lost. We have seen this in proposals such as the one 
included in the presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate, John 
Kerry's, economic plan. He proposes a tax increase for companies that 
invest in growing overseas markets in an attempt to prevent any 
American job from being lost.
  Now, many of our colleagues have proposed different approaches like 
preventing globally engaged companies from bidding for Federal 
contracts or saddling them with further regulation. But the ultimate 
goal is always the same: to prevent any job from being lost.
  These job-preservation proposals may be new here in the United 
States; but they are old news, they are old news in Western Europe. For 
years, countries like France and Germany have imposed strict 
regulations in an attempt to prevent any company from ever making an 
employment decision that would possibly eliminate a single job.
  For example, both countries, France and Germany, require a 
significant notification period before a company can reduce its 
workforce. France guarantees all workers a hearing; and in Germany, a 
worker can go to court and get a preliminary injunction to stay on the 
job until the issue is resolved in the courts.
  Now, at first glance, these ``job security'' measures may seem like a 
good idea. After all, they are clearly intended to save jobs and 
prevent hardship for workers. But have they worked? Are the French and 
German people better off than the American people are?
  Well, let us look at the jobs data. It clearly shows that they are 
not. In France, the unemployment rate has been stuck around 10 percent, 
more than double the unemployment rate that we have here. In Germany, 
the job situation is almost as bleak, with a long-term average of over 
8 percent unemployment.
  Growth in GDP has been at a near standstill for many years in both of 
those countries as well. Neither country has seen an annual growth rate 
of over 2 percent in a long time. Remember, we had an 8.1 percent 
growth rate a couple of months ago, and we are going along now at an 
excess of 4 percent growth that is double what France and Germany have 
seen. New business start-ups, venture capital, research and 
development, by virtually every possible measure, the French and German 
economies and job markets are very, very weak in all of those areas.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, these attempts at job preservation clearly failed 
the workers in France and in Germany. They will not help American 
workers, either. What will help Americans is encouraging greater job 
creation.
  Fortunately, this is where Americans excel. While the French and 
Germans have cornered the market on stifling regulation, Americans have 
long been the global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. We are 
the world leader in venture capital, new business start-ups, research 
and development, and new patents. Our emphasis on creativity, 
productivity, and free thinking has made our economy the most dynamic 
in the world. It has allowed Americans to constantly develop new ideas 
and create new jobs.
  In fact, fully 25 percent of all Americans are working in fields that 
did not even exist in the Department of Labor's job codes 25 years ago; 
and today, a third of all job creation is in the entrepreneurship 
categories of self-employment and independent contracting.
  If we continue to encourage the innovation that leads to new 
opportunities, we should be looking at the barriers to

[[Page H2135]]

productivity and job creation. We should be looking at ways to minimize 
the damaging effects of frivolous lawsuits, excessive regulation and 
taxation, and rising health care costs, just to name a few.
  The critical part is that our job growth agenda has got to be a job-
creation agenda. We need to recognize that we are on the right track 
and we can do even better.

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